Someone I'm Not

14 [pt.2]| Lucas and Complications ahead

"Soroya?" He asks that made her assurance that he knows her. She gulps, not knowing how to respond.

'How come he knows Soroya? I don't even know he knows her!' Phoenix asks himself, now realizing that there are still a lot of things that he doesn't know about his best friend. And being able to possess his best friend's body will make him understand her and the life she's been dealing with for the past few years of her existence.

"Uhm. . ." she once again trails off, not knowing how to respond to his sentence.

"You know her, professor Lucas?" The guard asks, making him look at him for a second and nod before turning his haze back at her.

"Yes. . . Indeed I do know her." They lock eyes as if they're trying to measure each other. When Professor Lucas is not getting any response, he clears his throat and breaks the stare. He then veers his gaze at the sentry as he gives him a warm smile.

"I'll take care of her. Will that be okay?" He asks that made the guard throws a final suspicious glance at them before returning the smile.

"Well, you know him, so ill trust you with it, professor." He says before walking back to his station, leaving them there.

"Thank you so much, Professor Lucas. But, we got to go. We only have five minutes left before we are marked absent." Bret explains before pulling Nico and Phoenix. Since they attend the same class, they didn't choose but to go for a run. When Philip realizes that he's left with Professor Lucas and Soroya, he decided to chase after his friends.

"Wait up!" He yells before disappearing in front of them after taking a hard turn to the right that directs them into a stair. That then leaves Soroya and Professor Lucas.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but—"

"How's your sister?" He asks that made her raise a brow. Before she could even ask why Professor Lucas looks around and grips tightly on his Texbo Genuine leather briefcase. "Follow me, please." His voice is gentle, but at the same time, demanding. Without getting any reply from her, he still decided to walk past her, now walking towards a direction he knows where leads. Back when he's still alive and still living in his own body and carrying his authentic identity, he recalls himself being the observant one. And he knows his directions in the school. But to be convincing because he's not inside his own body, he has to pretend at all cost. But not knowing who this man is? He doesn't need to try hard nor pretend because this is just his first time seeing him and knowing Soroya.

"Oh my goodness, Professor Lucas! You always look so damn good." His co-teacher greets him.

"You look lovely yourself, Miss Rad." He says that he receives a giggle from her.

"Oh, don't make me blush, mister! Because I might become redder than a tomato." She exclaims as she dabs powder on her left cheek. Professor Lucas then places down his bag as he takes out a book and a black notebook from his drawer. He stops by the mirror on his table as he realigns his necktie before heading out.

"Don't apply a redder lipstick, Miss Rad. Your lip is more natural with that shade already." He suggests when Miss Rad is just about to apply more lipstick. "Let's go?" He asks as he steps out and continues walking. Soroya then follows, still recalling Miss Rad as Phoenix's rude teacher before.

"I hate her." She mumbles that made Professor Lucas chuckle. "Did I say that out loud?" She asks, realizing what he's laughing at. "Sorry."

"Why? Did you happen to study under her supervision?" He asks that made her realize. Soroya didn't happen to deal with Miss Rad's rudeness, only Phoenix.

"Erm— no? But my friend Phoenix always tells me about how rude she is. . . He even secretly snap him a video as proof that he's telling the truth and send it to me!" She says, remembering what happened that day.

"Oh, really?" He asks, and it made her nod.

"But he immediately deleted it because he doesn't want anyone knowing about it. Just between us." She continues. What she's talking about right now is accurate because it happened.

"Then why are you telling me this? You know I can still tell her about everything you just told me." He tests her. This time, it was Soroya's moment to chuckle.

"Because I know you wouldn't." She confidently replies.

"And why is that?" He asks, finding the conversation interesting. Soroya then pouts with a matching shrug of shoulders before talking.

"I just feel like yours, a man that wouldn't spill even the smallest secret that you don't own." She says that made him silent, even though he still wanted to continue with the asking part.

"Well. . . Maybe?" He says that leaves her hanging. They continue walking until Soroya finds the courage to ask him what she's meaning to ask.

"I'm sorry, Professor Lucas, but I've been meaning to ask. . . Why did you ask me about Vi— I mean, my sister?" She finally let the words slip out into her mouth. He then halts as he turns to go him, with a confused look.

"I—"

"Professor Lucas! Thank goodness you're here!" A chubby teacher approaches them as his eyes are wholly darted on him that he barely noticed Soroya's presence.

"Professor Alec? What is it that you sweat like that?" He asks until the male teacher stops in front of them. Professor Alec then notices her presence as he acknowledges it.

"Good morning, student. Kindly excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to Professor Lucas immediately." He says with a tone of not wanting any answer other than yes. Her eyes then trail into Professor Lucas as she processes everything for a split second before smiling.

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Professor Lucas." She then pauses as she turns to face the other professor. "Professor Alec?" She nods in his direction. Professor Alec did the same thing before she decided to turn around and leave them. But choosing to saunter is a kind of a plan for her, even just to hear something about what they're going to talk about.

"By the way, is she Vianne's sister? Since when did she study here?" He whispers, but enough for her to hear. Soroya couldn't say it was intentional, but maybe because the hallway is silent, that made his voice sounds louder than expected. Soroya didn't hear Professor Lucas reply; instead, he decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, what was it you're talking about earlier that brought you here, Professor Alec?"

"Oh, it's about your students from the third floor. They're—" He asks, and that was the only thing she heard clear because it was already a muffled noise, now that she's walking far away from them.

When she's already out of the building, she didn't have much of a choice but to go anywhere now that all of her companions are inside their respective classes.

The sun is shining so bright today, but it wasn't hot at all. In fact, it's colder than she expected.

She feels her fingers start to freeze as if she soaked them inside ice-cold water or something. That made her slide both of her hands inside her hoodie pocket as she rubs her fingers together to create friction. She continues to walk until she already found herself on an empty bench below a tall tree. She finds it amusing to stay there, not only because of having the tree as a shed to the sunlight but also because the view she's looking at that has a vibe of the stories she had read before. He's not the best book lover, but he enjoyed reading books.

Soroya exhales as she sits down on the bench, feeling the coldness from it. But as soon as she leans forward, she then feels the warmth from her body starting to take over. She then looks around, now seeing the beauty of the University.

'Soroya has never been into where I study before.' Phoenix from the present starts to kick in as he starts to feel the freedom he's been longing for. He exhales as he leans his head backward, both hands are also stretched from side to side. He closes his eyes as he thought of everything, from when he started studying there to meeting Philip first. Then he was introduced to Bret and Nico until the rest was history. He recalls him being open to them, especially to how he feels about Soroya. And now that they've finally met her physically and not spiritually, he then realizes that a lot would definitely have changed if he wasn't still dead.

He feels the sudden pain just by thinking of Soroya being with Nico while he has admitted that he liked someone. But that is the problem. . . Only Philip knows who the person is. And now that they have seen Soroya, he knows that Bret is already collecting hints of his own. And he only wishes that Nico would do the same, rather than hitting on Soroya, who happens to be that "someone" he is talking about.

"I've never seen you before."

"Holy sh*t—" Phoenix from the present flinches as his soul connects back to Soroya's body. He could feel that forceful pull of him to go back to that body, and that made him curious.

'If I think about myself like that, does that mean my soul suddenly slips out of the body unconsciously?' He asks herself. And now, he is back to being Soroya.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The woman talks as she sits comfortably beside her. Soroya then turns to the woman as she slides back, creating a small gap between them. Soroya takes her moment as she stares at the woman beside her. Just then, Phoenix's mind functioned perfectly as he recalls the woman beside her.

'Urgh! This annoying woman!' He thought to himself, as the Soroya vibe keeps silent.

"By the way, I'm Karen. And you are. . ."

"Soroya." She says with a fake smile on her lips. They then shake hands that lasted for a few seconds before Soroya decided to break it.

"I see you with the boys earlier? I also saw you with Professor Lucas after that." She says that quickly sends chills down her spine.

"We're you stalking me?" Soroya asks that made Karen look from afar. She inhales calmly deep before averting her eyes to her, eyes locked up in a staredown contest.

"Of course not! Why would I stalk someone I don't know?" She asks calmly, but Soroya feels that there is something much more profound meaning into her calmness.

"Then are you stalking someone from the guys?" Soroya asks, realizing a possibility. That's when Karen releases a chuckle that made her break the eye contact and enough for her to feel a hint of irritation. Her chuckle lasted for a short second before she inhales sharply. Her eyes are glued on hers again.

"I like Phoenix and Nico." She confidently admits that made her heart thump faster. "And I think you're blocking my way, newbie." Her tone of calmness now changed into something possessive and robust.

"Excuse me?" Soroya asks, feeling her veins popping because of anger. Her hands now curled up in a ball, but not enough for her to notice.

"Who are you anyway? What are you doing with them? And if you want my honestly, I say that you DON'T fit with them. So, why don't you go scoot at the back of the line and wait for your turn for them to notice?" She asks, and now this time, she's being the b*tch that she expected.

"I think you have mistaken me for someone else. Why would I even line up when I don't NEED to line up?" She asks that made Karen's lip rise on edge as if she's just heard a ubiquitous answer.

"And besides, I don't even need to show off just for them to notice me because I already got their attention." She finally stands up as she is about to turn her back on her when she decided not to. . . yet.

"And you don't care about my business because I ain't doing something wrong about yours. . . I thought your nice, but now I know the reason why they can't seem to turn their attention on you." She feels so belittled, so bullied, so intimidated that her anger flows naturally. Before the woman could even reply from her burning replies, Soroya turns her back on her and starts marching her way out of that place.

"Damn! Now, I'm hungry." She says before sighing and starts looking to where their cafeteria is located.